Product evaluation system and product evaluation method

ABSTRACT

A product evaluation system and a product evaluation method allow people to quickly, inexpensively, and accurately evaluate large amounts of products including those that do not have information attached in advance in the manufacturing stage. The system comprises an I/O component that functions as a product identification mechanism that identifies product type including at least one of product, product group, product brand, or product category, a characteristic acquisition mechanism that acquires characteristic information of the product, an evaluator that performs authentication and value estimations of products, and a data store that stores information related to the product. The evaluation mechanism performs authentication and value estimations of products based on characteristic information of the product acquired by the characteristic acquisition mechanism, and genuine product characteristic information, counterfeit product characteristic information, and value information and market information for each condition included in the information related to products stored in the data store.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/865,975, filed on Oct. 2, 2007, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a product evaluation system and aproduct evaluation method and in particular to a product evaluationsystem and a product evaluation method that acquires characteristics ofproducts and then evaluates the authenticity of the product andestimates its value. Hereafter, the word “Evaluation” shall mean“Authentication” or “Value Estimation” or a combination of the both.

In recent years, due to the growth of the recycling and secondarydistribution markets for goods, used brand name products and jewelry arebeing widely distributed and counterfeit products are also oftendistributed to such markets. In particular, the increasing popularity ofsecondary market distribution platforms on the Internet in recent yearshas resulted in a significant increase in the illegal distribution ofcounterfeit products. As a result, there is a rising need toauthenticate and estimate the value of brand name products, jewelry, andthe like.

However, over the years and up until now, there have not beensignificant changes to evaluation methods of brand name products,jewelry, and the like. Traditionally, the evaluation of authenticity andvalue of products has required involvement of human beings with specialexpertise, and such evaluation was done by way of utilizing the fivesenses. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for humans who do nothave special expertise to evaluate products, making it necessary toobtain significant human resources with such expertise in order toperform evaluation operations of large quantities of products. Inaddition, an evaluation method that depends on the five human sensesrequires a long time for each product and limits the number of productsthat can be evaluated by one person per day. Furthermore, since theevaluation depends on the special expertise and experience of anindividual person, there is a possibility that the results of evaluationwill vary and mistakes occur depending on the person performing theevaluation.

Therefore, various technologies have been proposed to date to attach aninformation storage medium, on which specific information is recorded,to the main body, packing material, or the like of products beforehandduring the manufacturing stage of the products and then determine theauthenticity by reading and verifying this information. For example, atechnology is known consisting of attaching a wireless tag, whereoninformation used to identify the product is stored, to the product orthe packing box of the product, reading data from the wireless tag, and,if the correct information on the manufacturer or the distributor of theproduct is recognized, determining the product to be the genuineproduct. A technology is also known that further improves the securityfor preventing counterfeiting by encryption processing the data storedin the wireless tag (for an example, refer to Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication No. 2005-216316).

However, the authentication technology described in Japanese UnexaminedPatent Application No. 2005-216316 or other technology that embeds an ICchip or marker to perform the authentication requires an informationstorage medium to be embedded or attached to the main body, packingmaterials, or the like, of the products beforehand during themanufacturing stage or packaging stage. Accordingly, these methods andtechnologies allow for authentication of only those products with suchtags or markers attached and do not solve the problem of the need toauthenticate large amounts of already existing products to which suchtags or markers are attached. Furthermore, only people with specialequipment which is capable of reading and confirming the informationattached to products can perform the authentication of the products.Even further, each manufacture or distributor needs to attach a tag,marker, or the like to all the products to evaluate the products,thereby increasing manufacturing processes and man-hours.

In addition, technology that utilizes an information storage medium canonly determine authenticity of products, but can not automaticallyevaluate the value of products, which may vary depending on changes inconditions of the products as seen in second hand goods, and othercharacteristics.

SUMMARY

In consideration of the problems mentioned above, the present inventionhas an objective of providing a product evaluation system and a productevaluation method that allows people without special expertise orexperience to perform authentication and value estimation with a verysmall number of mistakes; or to accurately perform authentication andvalue estimation of large amounts of products with minimal humanresources. Another objective of the present invention is to provide aproduct evaluation system and a product evaluation method that evaluatesthe authenticity of products as is without the need for the manufactureror the distributor to attach information, such as a marker or tagger, toa product beforehand in the manufacturing stage. Furthermore, anotherobjective of the present invention is to provide a product evaluationsystem and a product evaluation method that can automatically estimatethe value of a product according to the condition and othercharacteristics of the product.

According to various embodiments of the present invention,characteristic information of a product targeted for evaluation isacquired by way of a characteristic acquisition mechanism that acquirescharacteristics of the product, and specific evaluation of the productis performed based on a comparison of the acquired characteristicinformation with information related to the product previously stored ina data store. Therefore, the product is evaluated “as is” by using thecharacteristics of the product acquired by the characteristicacquisition mechanism, without the need to embed an information storagemedium such as an IC chip or marker onto the main body of the product orthe packing material in advance during the manufacturing stage of theproduct.

In addition, because information related to the product targeted forevaluation is stored in a data store beforehand and the product isautomatically evaluated by a system based on comparison of theinformation related to the product with the characteristic informationof the product targeted for evaluation, an accurate evaluation with avery small number of mistakes can be performed and the result of theevaluation is not dependent on the special expertise or experience ofthe people who perform the evaluation itself. Furthermore, such anautomated system allows for a larger quantity of products to beevaluated within a specific period of time in comparison to evaluationperformed by humans.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present invention,authentication of a product can be performed by storing thecharacteristic information of genuine products and the characteristicinformation of counterfeit products in the data store in advance andcomparing the characteristic information of the product targeted forevaluation with these two kinds of characteristic information stored inthe data store. This automated authentication system allows for accurateand rapid authentication.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present invention,a value estimation of a product can be performed by storing the valueinformation and the market information of products in the data store inadvance and referencing the value information and the market informationcorresponding to the characteristic information of the product targetedfor evaluation acquired by the characteristic acquisition mechanism.This automated value estimation system allows for accurate and rapidvalue estimations.

Additionally, according to various embodiments of the present invention,accurate and rapid authentication and value estimations can besimultaneously achieved. Furthermore, the resale price of products invarying conditions, such as in the case of second hand products, can beestimated based on information regarding the market value of products invarying conditions.

Additionally, because the product evaluation system according to variousembodiments of the present invention comprises a characteristicacquisition mechanism which acquires the characteristic information ofthe product targeted for evaluation and a product identificationmechanism which identifies the type of the product targeted forevaluation based on the characteristic information acquired by thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism, identification of products isautomated by a system and input operations by an operator of the systemare reduced. Because of this, evaluations can be efficiently performed,and continuous evaluations of large amounts of products are possible.

Furthermore, according to various embodiments of the present invention,by acquiring characteristics of products by using appropriate devicesfor different type of products for the purpose of characteristicacquisition, it is possible to analyze differences in internalconstruction of products, materials, pigments of patterns, metal parts,sewn fabrics, adhesive agents, formed patterns such as coatings,compositions of precious metals, accuracy of patterns, surface roughnessand the like. Evaluations can also be performed with even more accuracywhen multiple devices are used in combination.

Furthermore, according to various embodiments of the present invention,by updating information related to products following each evaluation,additional information which may be utilized for evaluation iscontinuously accumulated as well as updated to the most recentinformation thereby continuously improving the accuracy of theevaluation of the products.

Furthermore, the product evaluation system according to variousembodiments of the present invention can be utilized for the evaluationof large volumes of products, such as custom inspection systems,logistics and physical distribution management systems, productmanagement systems, and the like, by designing the system for continuousevaluation of multiple products.

Various embodiments of the present invention can also be defined as aproduct evaluation method using each of the components of the productevaluation system described up to this point. According to this type ofproduct evaluation method, benefits similar to those obtained in theproduct evaluation system mentioned above can be obtained.

According to the product evaluation system and the product evaluationmethod according to various embodiments of the present invention,authentication and value estimations of large amount of products can berapidly and accurately performed. Furthermore, evaluations can beperformed “as is” even with products which do not have an embeddedinformation recording medium, such as an evaluation tag or marker.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block view of the product evaluation systemrelated to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic composition of the productevaluation system;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic composition of the productevaluation system;

FIG. 4 is a data structure diagram showing an example of the compositionof a product catalog database (DB);

FIG. 5 is a data structure diagram showing an example of the compositionof a characteristic acquisition mechanism DB;

FIG. 6 is a data structure diagram showing an example of the compositionof a genuine product characteristic DB;

FIG. 7 is a data structure diagram showing an example of the compositionof a counterfeit product characteristic DB;

FIG. 8 is a data structure diagram showing an example of the compositionof a product market value DB;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an evaluation process;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an evaluation process related to the secondembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic block view of the product evaluation systemrelated to the third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is a product evaluation system and a productevaluation method that acquires information related to characteristicinformation of the product targeted for evaluation, compares theacquired information to information related to the characteristics ofgenuine products or information related to the characteristics ofcounterfeit products generated beforehand, and then evaluates whetherthe product targeted for evaluation is a genuine product or acounterfeit product as well as acquires the condition of the producttargeted for evaluation and estimates the value of that product.

In the following, an embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed referring to the attached drawings. The system configuration,the database composition, and the process flow described below do notlimit the present invention and can be modified in many different wayswithin the scope of the intent of the present invention.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 are related to the first embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 1 is a schematic block view of the product evaluationsystem; FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are block diagrams showing a schematiccomposition of the product evaluation system; FIG. 4 shows an example ofthe composition of a product catalog DB (database); FIG. 5 shows anexample of the composition of a characteristic acquisition mechanism DB;FIG. 6 shows an example of the composition of a genuine productcharacteristic DB; FIG. 7 shows an example of the composition of acounterfeit product characteristic DB; FIG. 8 shows an example of thecomposition of a product market value DB; and FIG. 9 shows a flowchartof an evaluation process.

The entire configuration of the product evaluation system 1 in the firstembodiment will be described referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the product evaluation system 1 relatedto the first embodiment is comprised by a characteristic acquisitionmechanism 10 that acquires information related to the characteristics ofproduct X, an evaluation mechanism 20 that performs evaluations whichinclude authentication of products and value estimations based oninformation related to the characteristics acquired by way of thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10, a data store 30 that storeseach database to be compared in order for the evaluation mechanism 20 toperform evaluations, and an input/output (I/O) component 50 that inputsinformation required by the evaluation mechanism 20 to performevaluations and outputs the results of the evaluations performed by theevaluation mechanism 20.

As an example of a configuration that can be used for the productevaluation system 1, a test/analysis device such as radiographic testequipment can be used as the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10, anapplication server that stores application programs which performevaluation processing can be used as the evaluation mechanism 20, adatabase server that stores databases required by the evaluation processcan be used as the data store 30, and a terminal device such as apersonal computer can be used as the I/O component 50. These devices canbe connected through a network such as a LAN or the Internet. Thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10, the evaluation mechanism 20,the data store 30, and the I/O component 50 can be comprised asphysically different devices or comprised by a single device thatintegrates all of them.

Additionally, the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 and the I/Ocomponent 50 can be different devices or, for example, can be comprisedby a single terminal device such as a portable terminal having a displayor a handheld terminal, equipped with a sensor or a scanner. Thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10 can be one device such as ahandheld terminal equipped with a sensor, or, for example, it can becomprised by a device wherein a product is placed on a transportassembly of a product transport device such as a belt conveyor in whichthis transport device is provided with an enclosed area where theproduct passes through internally and wherein the characteristicacquisition mechanism 10 is installed inside this area. Similarly, theevaluation mechanism 20 and the data store 30 may be comprised bydifferent devices, or the evaluation mechanism 20 and the data store 30may also be combined into a single server, or the like.

Additionally, all devices can be installed at the same place andconnected by a LAN, or each device can be installed at separatelocations. When the devices are installed at separate locations, theconnection can be made through a wide area communication network suchthat several devices, for example, the characteristic acquisitionmechanism 10 of a test/analysis device and the I/O component 50 of aterminal may be installed at a location where evaluations of productsare performed and used to input product information and outputevaluation results, and the evaluation mechanism 20 of an applicationserver and the data store 30 of a database server may be installed at aseparate location (such as an information processing center) whereevaluation processing is performed.

As an example where all the devices are installed at one location, autilization method may be used where large amounts of products arecontinuously evaluated such as a logistics or a physical distributioncenter or a customs facility. As an example where functions for productinformation input and evaluation result output and functions forevaluation processing are provided at separate locations such as remotelocations, a utilization method can be used where an appraiser ofproducts performs evaluations of products one at a time. When providedat a remote location, the appraiser or the operator can only inputinformation and verify results while access to the evaluation processingprograms and evaluation database can only be performed by the serviceprovider of the system. Hence, security can be ensured.

The products X can be any type of item as long as they are objects whosecharacteristic information (described later) can be acquired. They canbe bags, shoes, small items, apparel, jewelry, loose stones (nakedstones), art work, or clocks/watches whose raw material is leather, fur,fabric (cloth), metal, precious metal, resin, rubber, glass, wood, stonematerial, or the like, or they can be precision machinery, householdelectronics, automobiles, motorcycles, perfumes, etc.

The characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 is a device for measuringthe characteristics of products and is comprised by a radiographic testdevice, fluorescent X-ray analysis device, ultraviolet absorptionanalysis device, image enlargement processing device, surface roughnessmeasurement device, infrared light absorption/penetration analysisdevice, acoustic frequency analysis device, odor sensor, or reflectioncoefficient measurement device or any combination thereof. When thesedevices are used in combination, a single, multifunction device may beused, or the results obtained by performing various analyses using manydifferent devices may be used. The characteristic acquisition mechanism10 can be formed by various different combinations or compositionsaccording to the type of product to be evaluated or depending on thetype of information related to the characteristics of the product to beobtained (hereinafter referred to as characteristic information).

As shown in FIG. 1, the product evaluation system 1 of the firstembodiment is an example of an installation that combines each devicefor each purpose at one location, such as a physical distribution centeror a customs facility, and each device is connected by a LAN. Thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10 of this embodiment is a devicethat performs penetration tests and fluorescent X-ray analysis usingX-rays, and is mounted to the inside of a transport assembly of aproduct transport device equipped with a belt conveyor, and is comprisedso as to allow continuous evaluations of multiple products. In this way,a composition provided with the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10mounted inside a belt conveyor makes it possible to continuouslyevaluate large volumes of products.

As shown in FIG. 3, the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 of thisembodiment is comprised by an irradiation unit 11 that irradiates X-raysonto the product X to be evaluated, a first detection unit 12 thatdetects the penetrated penetration X-rays, a second detection unit 13that detects fluorescent X-rays, and a communication unit 15 that sendsthe detected information to the evaluation mechanism 20.

The generation of a transparent image using the X-ray transmissionmethod of the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 uses knowntechnology and irradiates X-rays onto the product X to be evaluatedusing the irradiation unit 11, uses the physical material detected bythe first detection unit 12 to form the difference in X-ray absorptioninto images, and then generates transparent image data of the inside ofthe product X as characteristic information. This internal transparentimaging makes it possible to confirm and identify the internalconstruction, the shape of the components, the existence of IC tags, andinternal imprints of the product X.

Additionally, the fluorescent X-ray analysis method of thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10 also uses known technology anduses the second detection unit 13 to detect the fluorescent X-rays,which have a particular wavelength, and were obtained by irradiatingX-rays to generate wavelength and intensity information ascharacteristic information. The types of elements contained in theproduct can be specified by measuring the energy of these fluorescentX-rays (qualitative analysis) and the density of elements can beevaluated from the intensity of the fluorescent X-rays of each element(quantitative analysis).

In this manner, characteristic information obtained by an X-raypenetration test (image data) and characteristic information obtainedfrom an analysis of the fluorescent X-rays (wavelength and intensityinformation) is sent to the evaluation mechanism 20 through thecommunication unit 15. The characteristic information of the product Xacquired by the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 is used byhereafter described evaluation mechanism 20 to perform theauthentication and value estimation of the product X.

The type of characteristic information that shows the characteristics ofthe product X acquired by the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10differs depending on the device that comprises the characteristicacquisition mechanism 10. In other words, the characteristic informationis information the device that comprises the characteristic acquisitionmechanism 10 can detect and acquire. Each type of detected informationthat is compatible with the test method and analysis method used by thedevice (hereinafter referred to as characteristic acquisition method) isacquired as characteristic information of the product X. Specifically,in addition to the internal transparent image data obtained by the X-raypenetration test mentioned above and the wavelength and intensityobtained by the fluorescent X-ray analysis mentioned above, thefollowing types of characteristic information can be obtained accordingto the characteristic acquisition method.

When performing ultraviolet light absorption analysis as thecharacteristic acquisition method, the wavelength and intensity of theultraviolet light are detected as the characteristic information andthen the material, pattern pigment, and other components of product Xare identified based on difference in the ultraviolet light absorptance.

During an image enlargement process that uses visible light, pattern,printing and imprints, textured pattern material, and sewing conditionsof product X are identified by generating an enlarged image of theproduct X, extracting characteristic amounts, and then performingpattern matching.

During surface roughness measurements using visible light, the surfaceroughness value is acquired as the characteristic information,unevenness of the surface of the product X is quantified, and surfaceshapes of the material or embossing of artificial leather are identifiedand blemishes or flaws on the surface are identified.

During infrared light absorption analysis, the infrared light absorptionrate with a wide range from near infrared to far infrared is measuredand acquired as the characteristic information and differences in thecomposition of material, pattern pigment, coating material, and the likeof the product X are distinguished and identified.

During infrared penetration analysis, the wavelength of the penetratinginfrared light is acquired as the characteristic information andmaterials such as sapphire glass and clear coating are distinguished.

During acoustic frequency analysis, the acoustic properties of, forexample, the frequencies of acoustic signals from the audible region tothe ultrasonic region (10 Hz to 2 MHz) are acquired and analyzed as thecharacteristic information. When the sounds are audible, voice printmatching analysis is performed and sounds from the movement of a watchare compared and identified. In addition, elastic waves in theultrasonic frequency range are analyzed and characteristics of themachinery as well as conditions such as abrasion and damage areevaluated.

During odor qualitative analysis using an odor sensor, the type andstrength of the odor are detected as the characteristic information andthe material of the product X such as leather or the aroma of theperfume are distinguished and identified.

During reflection coefficient measurement, the reflection coefficientwhen striking the surface of the product X is acquired as thecharacteristic information, and the material of the product isidentified.

The type of the characteristic information acquired by any of thesecharacteristic acquisition methods to be used for an evaluation can bedetermined depending on the type of product to be evaluated.

Although the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 of this embodimentis comprised by the irradiation unit 11, the first detection unit 12,the second detection unit 13, and the communication unit 15, theconfiguration can be modified depending on the characteristicacquisition method according to the type of product to be evaluated. Forexample, in ultraviolet absorption analysis, image enlargementprocessing, surface roughness measurement, infrared light absorptionanalysis, infrared light penetration analysis, or reflection coefficientmeasurement, the composition can include the irradiation unit 11 thatfunctions to irradiate or generate each light wave used for the tests,the first detection unit 12 that detects measured values obtained by theirradiated or generated light, and the communication unit 15 that sendsthe detected information to the evaluation mechanism 20. Furthermore, inacoustic frequency analysis and odor analysis using an odor sensor, itis not necessary to provide the irradiation unit 11 and the compositioncan include the first detection unit 12 and the communication unit 15.

Next, the evaluation mechanism 20 of this embodiment will be described.The evaluation mechanism 20 of this embodiment uses, for example, anapplication server and, as shown in FIG. 3, is equipped with anevaluation program 21 a that performs authentication and valueestimation processing for the product X, a hard disk drive (HDD) 21 thatstores the evaluation program 21 a, a memory 22 that contains aread-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM) for temporarilystoring data and programs required while executing the evaluationprogram 21 a, a central processing unit (CPU) 24 that controls andcalculates each process of the evaluation mechanism 20, and acommunication unit 25 that provides communication between the evaluationmechanism 20 and the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10, the datastore 30, and the I/O component 50. Additionally, the HDD 21 has aninformation storage region 21 b for storing various information requiredfor executing the evaluation program 21 a.

In the evaluation mechanism 20, the CPU 24 reads the evaluation program21 a from the HDD 21 and executes evaluation processing. When theevaluation program 21 a is executed, the CPU 24 executes each type offundamental program for hardware control, such as I/O control stored inthe ROM of the memory 22. In addition to this, the CPU 24 performsarithmetic processing while data and programs required to execute theevaluation program 21 a are temporarily stored in the RAM of the memory22. The data required to execute the evaluation program 21 a includescharacteristic information of the product X acquired by thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10 and information within eachdatabase stored in the data store 30. The evaluation mechanism 20acquires these information from the characteristic acquisition mechanism10 and the data store 30 as necessary and then stores the information inthe RAM of the memory 22 and performs arithmetic processing.

Next, the data store 30 of this embodiment will be described. The datastore 30 of this embodiment uses, for example, a database server and, asshown in FIG. 3, is comprised by a HDD 30 a that stores each databaseand each database 31 to 38 stored in the HDD 30 a. In this embodiment,the processing of reading and writing of each database 31 to 38 iscontrolled by the CPU 24 of the evaluation mechanism 20.

Databases such as a product catalog DB 31, a characteristic acquisitionmethod DB 32, a genuine product characteristic DB 33, a genuine productcondition DB 34, a genuine product information DB 35, a counterfeitproduct characteristic DB 36, a counterfeit product information DB 37,and a product market value DB 38 are stored in the HDD 30 a. Thesedatabases consist of information created in advance by collectingrequired information which is then stored in the HDD 30 a, and arereferenced when the evaluation mechanism 20 performs the authenticationand value estimation of the product X. In addition to the informationcreated in advance, new information detected in the evaluation processmay be added or updated in each database as necessary.

Note, these types of databases and the configuration and items of eachdatabase described below are not limited to this embodiment and can bemodified to different configurations within the scope of the intentionof the present invention. All databases may be used in the evaluationprocess, or only a part of the databases can be used as well. Thefollowing is an example of a configuration of each database.

Information related to the product targeted for evaluation in theproduct evaluation system 1 of the present invention is registered inthe product catalog DB 31. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, “productcategories” which represent the type of product such as bags, watches,precious metals, and jewels; as well as “brand names”, “product groups”,“product names”, “product numbers”, “colors”, “sizes “, and” shapes” ofthese products are stored. “Evaluation tasks” used to perform evaluationprocessing for these products and “identification IDs” for identifyingthe products are also stored. The details of evaluation task will bedescribed later, but the evaluation task has registered information todistinguish whether authentication or value estimations will beperformed. Because products registered in the product catalog DB 31beforehand are targeted for evaluation in the product evaluation system1 of an embodiment of the present invention, the registration processshould be performed before evaluating new products. Data registered inthe product catalog DB 31 is data with various patterns corresponding tothe attributes of the product such as individual products, productgroups, or product categories.

As shown in FIG. 5, the “characteristic acquisition method” foracquiring characteristic information of products used in the evaluationprocess and the “characteristic items” which indicate the type ofcharacteristic information obtained by the characteristic acquisitionmethod are registered for each product in the characteristic acquisitionmethod DB 32. The number of the characteristic item is not limited toone per product per characteristic acquisition method. Multiplecharacteristic items can be registered per product per characteristicacquisition method. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, because a pluralityof characteristic information such as the composition of materials, thecomposition of the pigments used on patterns, the composition offittings, or the composition of coating material can be acquired influorescent X-ray analysis as a characteristic acquisition method foridentification ID 0001 of bag a1, multiple characteristic itemscorresponding to fluorescent X-ray analysis are registered in advance.

Characteristic information such as measured values and image data ofeach characteristic item for a genuine product (hereinafter referred toas a “genuine value”) is registered in the genuine productcharacteristic DB 33. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a “characteristicitem” and a “genuine value” are contained in the genuine productcharacteristic DB 33. Products and characteristic items registered inthe genuine product characteristic DB 33 correspond to the products andcharacteristic items registered in the characteristic acquisition methodDB 32. The evaluation mechanism 20 performs an evaluation to determinewhether or not a product is a genuine product by comparing a genuinevalue that indicates a value as a genuine product in the genuine productcharacteristic DB 33 to the characteristic information of the product Xtargeted for evaluation acquired by the characteristic acquisitionmechanism 10.

The conditions of genuine products and ranking according to conditionare registered in the genuine product condition DB 34. For example, whenthe condition of the bag a1 is evaluated by the number of scratches,information stating 1 scratch is rank A, 3 scratches is rank B, and 5scratches or more are rank C is registered. As an example, since thenumber of scratches can be acquired using the characteristic acquisitionmechanism 10, ranking which corresponds to the conditions of the genuineproduct can be automatically performed by the product evaluation system1.

Information used to manage genuine products which cannot be acquired bythe characteristic acquisition mechanism 10, such as whether or not aunique marker such as an IC chip is mounted on the product, is stored inthe genuine product information DB 35. This information is offered inadvance from the manufacturer or the distributor. This information makesit possible to immediately determine a counterfeit product when thisinformation in the genuine product information DB 35 and the informationof the product targeted for evaluation are different. This kind ofunique information regarding a product is also one piece ofcharacteristic information which may be used to evaluate products. Note,this information can also be stored in the product catalog DB 31 withoutseparately providing this database as an independent database.

Characteristic information such as measured values and image data ofeach characteristic item for a counterfeit product (hereinafter referredto as a “counterfeit value”) is registered in the counterfeit productcharacteristic DB 36. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a “characteristicitem” and a “counterfeit value” are contained in counterfeit productcharacteristic DB 36. When a counterfeit product is detected, theinformation of that counterfeit product is added and registered in thecounterfeit product characteristic DB 36 and consequently, theinformation in the counterfeit product characteristic DB 36 isaccumulated. Products and characteristic items registered in thecounterfeit product characteristic DB 36 correspond to any of thecharacteristic items of each product and characteristic acquisitionmethod registered in the characteristic acquisition method DB 32. Theinformation in the counterfeit product characteristic DB 36 is that ofcounterfeit products that have been detected to-date. The evaluationmechanism 20 performs an evaluation to determine whether or not aproduct is a counterfeit product by comparing a counterfeit value thatindicates a value as a counterfeit product in the counterfeit productcharacteristic DB 36 to the characteristic information of the product Xtargeted for evaluation acquired by the characteristic acquisitionmechanism 10.

In the authentication process, since it is possible to evaluate whetheror not a product is a genuine product by referencing the genuine productcharacteristic DB 33 and the genuine product information DB 35 and bycomparing a genuine value in the characteristic item of a producttargeted for evaluation to the characteristic information of the productX acquired by the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10, genuinevalues for each characteristic item related to the product targeted forevaluation must be registered in the genuine product characteristic DB33 and the genuine product information DB 35.

On the other hand, information obtained from counterfeit products isregistered, which can be obtained only when counterfeit products areobtained, in the counterfeit product characteristic DB 36, andinformation for all products and characteristic items are not registeredin the database. However, a higher accuracy in evaluations ofauthenticity can be achieved by registering information of circulatingcounterfeit products in the counterfeit product characteristic DB 36 andthen using both counterfeit product characteristic DB 36 and genuineproduct characteristic DB 33 in the authentication process. Besides,since counterfeit products in high circulation can be immediatelyevaluated by confirming the counterfeit product characteristic DB 36prior to confirming the genuine product characteristic DB 33 and thegenuine product information DB 35, the authentication can be efficientlyperformed by determining the sequence of the databases to be confirmeddepending on the products.

Information regarding circulating counterfeit products provided by brandowners, police, customs, external sources, and the like is registered inthe counterfeit product information DB 37. For example, when identifyinginformation such as an SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) of a product (for whichcounterfeit products exist) is registered, the evaluation criteria canbe stricter by increasing the number of the inspected items as comparedto those in a usual case in the authentication of that product.

Market values of used genuine products and works of art are registeredin the product market value DB 38. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8,“ranks” according to the conditions of the products and “market prices”for each rank are registered. To estimate the value of a product, first,the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 acquires the condition ofthe product X, the genuine product condition DB 34 is referenced and therank of the product X corresponding to the condition is acquired. Then,the product market value DB 38 is searched based on this acquiredcondition to acquire a market price. Data registered as a market pricecan be a sales price, or can be a discount amount or discount rate toreduce the market price according to the condition of the product. Inthe case of the latter, the market price for each product is registeredin another database and the sales price can be obtained by subtractingdiscount amount from the market price or multiplying discount rate bythe market price.

A certain amount of information is acquired, collected, and registeredin advance in each of these databases, which the product evaluationsystem 1 uses for authentication and value estimations. For example, inthe genuine product characteristic DB 33 that stores information relatedto the characteristics of products, and in the counterfeit productcharacteristic DB 36, if any counterfeit product is obtained, genuinevalues, which represent the characteristics of genuine products, andcounterfeit values, which represent the characteristics of counterfeitproducts, are registered respectively, by acquiring and analyzingcharacteristic information of each product for each characteristicacquisition method using the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10.Furthermore, the characteristic information acquired by thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10 during the evaluation processingis added or updated to these databases. This makes it possible toimprove the accuracy of information used in the evaluations.

Next, the I/O component 50 of this embodiment will be described. The I/Ocomponent 50 of this embodiment uses a personal computer and, as shownin FIG. 3, is comprised by an input unit 51 from which the operatorinputs information when performing evaluation processing, an output unit52 that outputs evaluation results, a communication unit 55 for sendingand receiving input information and output information to and from theevaluation mechanism 20, and a CPU 54 that controls the input unit 51,the output unit 52, and the communication unit 55. A keyboard, mouse orthe like can be used as the input unit 51 and a display, printer or thelike can be used as the output unit 52.

In this embodiment the operator can input the product targeted forevaluation. In this case, the I/O component 50 is provided with acombination of functions as a product identification mechanism. Theproduct targeted for evaluation is identified by selecting it from alist of products displayed in a display functioning as the output unit52 using a keyboard or a mouse functioning as the input unit 51. Adetailed description of the operation will be described later, but wheninput is not required, such as when the product targeted for evaluationis fixed, the evaluation mechanism 20 acquires the information stored inthe information storage region 21 b and makes a decision. In this case,the evaluation mechanism 20 functions as the product identificationmechanism.

Next the operation of the product evaluation system 1 of the firstembodiment will be described. In the product evaluation system 1 of thisembodiment, either authentication or a value estimation, or bothauthentication and a value estimation can be performed as a type ofevaluation (hereafter referred to as an “evaluation task”).Authentication evaluates whether a product is a genuine product or acounterfeit product. A value estimation evaluates the condition of aproduct and then estimates the value of the product base on the marketprice. This evaluation task can be set in accordance with the purpose ofuse of the product evaluation system 1. As examples of various settingsfor the evaluation task, the task evaluation is designated by anoperator who operates the system, such as an appraiser, designates whenthe evaluation is performed, automatically set within the system, orfixed beforehand. Additionally, when an operator designates anevaluation task, a mode switch function can be provided that makes itpossible to establish settings such that evaluation tasks identical topreviously designated evaluation tasks will execute continuously until amode switch is designated.

In more detail, when the products to be evaluated are different for eachevaluation, the settings can be made such that the operator candesignate an evaluation task for each evaluation or designate anevaluation task when switching modes. In addition, when the productevaluation system 1 is linked to an external system (for example, aproduct management system or a physical distribution system) andevaluation tasks are to be automatically determined based on informationinput from the linked external system, an operator does not need todesignate the evaluation task.

It is also possible to make the settings such that the designation ofevaluation tasks is completely unnecessary when specific evaluationtasks are decided upon, such as for a value estimation system ofdiamonds or an authentication system for specific brand names.Necessities of task designation and evaluation tasks to be executeddescribed above according to the purpose of use or the configuration ofthe product evaluation system 1 can be determined by making thesesettings and storing the setting information in the information storageregion 21 b inside HDD 21 of the evaluation mechanism 20. This may becarried during initialization of the system when first installing thesystem or switching over from another system. Additionally, thisinformation can be updated when the operator switches modes or wheninformation is input from an external system.

FIG. 9 shows a process flow of an evaluation process of the productevaluation system 1 of this embodiment. This process is executed by theevaluation mechanism 20.

In the evaluation process of this embodiment, an evaluation taskidentification step S1, an evaluated product identification step S2, anacquisition method/item identification step S3, a product characteristicacquisition step S4, authentication step S5, a value estimation step S6,and an evaluation result output step S7 may execute sequentially. Thesequence of each step of the evaluation process is not limited to thissequence and as described later, the execution sequence of theevaluation task identification step S1 and the evaluated productidentification step S2 or the execution sequence of the authenticationstep S5 and the value estimation step S6 can be changed. In addition, insome cases only one of the authentication step S5 and the valueestimation step S6 executes. A step that includes the authenticationstep S5 and the value estimation step S6 shall be referred to as theproduct evaluation step.

In the evaluation task identification step S1, when the system isstarted by a system start operation, etc. performed by the operator,first, the information stored in the information storage region 21 binside the HDD 21 that determines whether or not to designate anevaluation task is referenced, and whether or not the operator mustdesignate an evaluation task is determined. When an evaluation task mustbe designated, an evaluation task selection screen (not shown in thefigure) displays in the display that functions as the output unit 52.The operator selects and inputs either authentication or a valueestimation or both evaluation tasks from a keyboard or a mouse thatfunctions as the input unit 51. Thereafter, the selected evaluation taskis written to the information storage region 21 b inside the HDD 21.

In contrast, when it is not necessary to designate an evaluation task,the previously designated evaluation task or the evaluation task fixedby the system is acquired from the information storage region 21 b toidentify the evaluation task.

Next, the type of the product targeted for evaluation is designated inthe evaluated product identification step S2. In the same manner asdesignating an evaluation task, settings for designating a product canbe made by designations from an operator who operates the system,automatic settings in the system, or using settings regarding a fixedproduct designated in advance. When an operator designates the type ofthe product, a mode switch function can be provided that makes itpossible to establish settings such that an evaluation for the type ofthe product identical to previously designated type of the productexecute continuously until a mode switch is designated.

In other words, when the products to be evaluated are different for eachevaluation, the setting can be made such that the operator can designatea product for each evaluation or designate a product when switchingmodes. In addition, when the product evaluation system 1 is linked to anexternal system (for example, a product management system or a physicaldistribution system) and products to be evaluated are to beautomatically determined based on information input from the linkedexternal system, an operator does not need to designate the product.

It is also possible to make the settings such that the designation ofproducts is completely unnecessary when specific products are decidedupon such as for a value estimation system of diamonds or anauthentication system for specific brand names. Necessities of productdesignation and products targeted for evaluation can be determined bymaking there settings and storing the setting information in the storageregion 21 b inside HDD 21 of the evaluation mechanism 20. This may becarried during initialization of the system when first installing thesystem or switching over from another system. Additionally, thisinformation can be updated when the operator switches modes or wheninformation is input from an external system.

The evaluated product identification step S2 references the informationthat determines whether or not a product needs to be designated, whichis stored in the information storage region 21 b inside the HDD 21 andthen determines whether or not the product targeted for evaluation mustbe designated by the operator. When the product needs to be designated,the operator inputs the product category, brand name, product group, andproduct name. Thereafter, the product, product group, or productcategory input by the operator are written to the information storageregion 21 b inside the HDD 21. Whether to designate a product, designatea product group, or designate a product category can be determinedaccording to the product targeted for evaluation.

In contrast, when it is not necessary to designate a product targetedfor evaluation, the product designated last or the product fixed by thesystem is acquired from the information storage region 21 b to identifythe product targeted for evaluation.

In this embodiment, although the product to be evaluated in theevaluated product identification step S2 is identified after theevaluation task identification step S1 identifies the evaluation task,the sequence of the process is not limited to this. The evaluation taskmay be identified in an evaluation task identification step after theproduct is identified in a evaluated product identification step. Theevaluation task and product identification may also take placesimultaneously in a single process.

Next, in the acquisition method/item identification step S3, thecharacteristic acquisition method and the characteristic itemcorresponding to the product identified in the evaluated productidentification step S2 are identified, which are the informationrequired for the authentication or the value estimation of the product.If the product to be evaluated is the same as the product evaluated lasttime or when the product is fixed beforehand, there is no need toacquire the characteristic acquisition method and the characteristicitem. As such, first, the information storage region 21 b inside the HDD21 is referenced to determine whether or not the characteristicacquisition method and the characteristic item must be acquired.

When acquisition of the characteristic acquisition method and thecharacteristic item are not required, the previously designated or fixedacquisition method and characteristic item are acquired from theinformation storage region 21 b inside the HDD 21 to identify thecharacteristic acquisition method and the characteristic item. Incontrast, when acquisition of the characteristic acquisition method andthe characteristic item is required, an evaluation is performed todetermine whether or not manual input was designated for thecharacteristic acquisition method and the characteristic item. In thisembodiment, the operator can select manual input of the characteristicacquisition method and the characteristic item. When the operator wantsto select the characteristic acquisition method and the characteristicitem, manual input can be performable by selecting “manual input” on thecharacteristic acquisition method selection screen.

When manual input is selected, the operator inputs the characteristicacquisition method and the characteristic item. The characteristicacquisition method and the characteristic item to be input are notlimited to a single method or a single item. Multiple characteristicacquisition methods and characteristic items can be input. In this way,the inspection items used for authentication or value estimations can benarrowed down by specifying characteristic acquisition methods andcharacteristic items, and thereby the evaluation process can beefficiently implemented.

In contrast, when manual input is not selected, the characteristicacquisition method DB 32 is referenced and the characteristicacquisition method and the characteristic item which correspond to theproduct X targeted for evaluation are acquired. In this way, thecharacteristic item to be used in the evaluation process isautomatically determined. The characteristic acquisition method and thecharacteristic item which correspond to the product X are not limited toa single method or a single item. There are cases when multiplecharacteristic acquisition methods and characteristic items areregistered in the characteristic acquisition method DB 32. In thesecases, multiple characteristic acquisition methods and characteristicitems which correspond to the product X are acquired.

Next, in the product characteristic acquisition step S4, thecharacteristics of the product are acquired based on the characteristicacquisition methods and characteristic items acquired in the acquisitionmethod/item identification step S3. Hereafter, an example of theevaluation process will be described wherein the product X targeted forevaluation is a bag whose category is Bag, brand name is Brand A,product group is Group A1, product name is Bag a1, and identification IDis 0001. The characteristic acquisition method for evaluation of theproduct X is fluorescent X-ray analysis and the characteristic item ispigment composition.

First, when a request to send characteristic information is sent to thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10 based on the characteristicacquisition method and the characteristic item acquired in theacquisition method/item identification step S3, the characteristicacquisition mechanism 10 performs a fluorescent X-ray analysis to detectthe pigment composition of the patterned area of the surface of the Baga1, and sends the detection results to the evaluation mechanism 20.

Next, when the evaluation task is authentication, in the authenticationstep S5, the product X is evaluated to be either a genuine product or acounterfeit product based on the characteristic information of theproduct X acquired in the product characteristic acquisition step S4.The genuine product characteristic DB 33 is searched and characteristicinformation (genuine value) of the corresponding genuine product isacquired based on the characteristic acquisition method and thecharacteristic item of the characteristic information of the Bag a1acquired by the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10.

For example, in the evaluation process of this embodiment, becausefluorescent X-ray analysis is performed and a pigment composition isacquired in the product characteristic acquisition step of step S4, thegenuine product characteristic DB 33 is searched and informationcorresponding to “fluorescent X-ray analysis” and “pigment composition”for identification ID 0001 is acquired. As shown in FIG. 6, the pigmentcomposition of the genuine product Bag a1 consists of two components,component A and component B. This genuine value and the actual pigmentcomposition acquired from Bag a1 are compared and if they are the same,the product is evaluated to be a “genuine product”. If even onedifferent component is detected, the product is evaluated to be a“counterfeit product”.

This comparison of a pigment composition is one example, and otherevaluation methods are also possible such as evaluating from thecomposition ratio of each component. Additionally, if a product isevaluated to be a “genuine product” and characteristic information isdetected that does not exist in the genuine product characteristic DB 33or when it is evaluated that a value should be statistically updated,adding to or updating of the genuine product characteristic DB 33 isperformed using the characteristic information of the product X.

In the evaluation method described above, the genuine productcharacteristic DB 33 was referenced and the characteristics of thegenuine product were used as an evaluation criterion to perform theevaluation. The counterfeit product characteristic DB 36 can also bereferenced and the characteristic information of the counterfeit product(counterfeit value) can be used as an evaluation criterion. For example,if the pigment composition of a counterfeit Bag a1 is previouslyanalyzed and a component that is not used in a genuine product can beclearly identified, the product can be evaluated to be a counterfeitproduct. As shown in FIG. 7, component C and component D that are notused in genuine products are registered as components of a pigment of acounterfeit Bag a1 in the counterfeit product characteristic DB 36. Whencomponent C or component D is detected from the evaluation target Baga1, the product can be evaluated to be a “counterfeit product”.Additionally, when a product is evaluated to be a counterfeit productand characteristic information is detected that does not exist in thecounterfeit product characteristic DB 36, or when it is evaluated that avalue that should be statistically updated, adding to or updating of thecounterfeit product characteristic DB 36 is performed using thecharacteristic information of the product X.

Furthermore, authentication can also be performed using informationother than the characteristic information registered in the genuineproduct characteristic DB 33 or the counterfeit product characteristicDB 36. For example, if the information that an IC chip is mounted to agenuine product of the product X is registered in the genuine productinformation DB 35, the product can be evaluated to be a genuine productwhen an IC chip mounted to the product X targeted for evaluation isdetected by the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10.

Which databases to be referenced and what sequence of steps to beexecuted when an evaluation is performed using combinations of multiplecharacteristic items can be determined according to the product Xtargeted for evaluation or the credibility of the characteristic items.Additionally, when an evaluation is performed using combinations ofmultiple characteristic items, analysis methods such as discriminationanalysis methods, multi-dimensional scaling analysis, or clusteranalysis methods are applied and a reasonable authentication isperformed.

Next, when the evaluation task is a value estimation, a value estimationof product X is performed in the value estimation step S6. This valueestimation step S6 can be executed without regard to the evaluationresult of the authentication step S5 described above. In other words,when the product X is a precious metal, etc. and the precious metalitself has value, a value evaluation in this value estimation step S6can be performed even if the product was evaluated to be a counterfeitproduct in the authentication step S5.

When the evaluation task is a value estimation, information related tothe condition of the product X such as size and number of blemishes arefurther acquired in the product characteristic acquisition step S4. Notethat this information related to the condition of the product X istreated as characteristic information in the value estimation. Next, inthe value estimation step S6, the genuine product condition DB 34 isreferenced and a rank is acquired as value information of the product Xtargeted for evaluation corresponding to the acquired conditions such asthe number of blemishes. Thereafter, based on the acquired rank, theproduct market value DB 38 is referenced and the market value isacquired as market information. If the acquired market value is thesales price, this value may be applied to the product X without anychanges. If there are discount amounts or discount rates, the salesprice of the product X is determined by calculated from the market valueregistered in a separate DB and the discount amounts or discount rates.Discount amounts and discount rates are also one type of marketinformation.

Lastly, in the evaluation result output step S7, the evaluation resultof “genuine product” or “counterfeit product” obtained in theauthentication step S5 and the value of the product X as the evaluationresult obtained in the value estimation step S6 are output to thedisplay (output unit 52) of the I/O component 50. Note that the outputunit 52 is not limited to a display and can be a printer. If a printeris used as the output unit 52, the result is output by printing.

The execution sequence of the authentication step S5 and the valueestimation step S6 is not limited to the sequence described above. Thevalue estimation can be performed first in the value estimation step andthen the authentication can be performed in the authentication step, orthe authentication and value estimation can be performed at the sametime in one step. When only authentication is designated as theevaluation task, the value estimation step S6 does not execute. Incontrast, when only a value estimation is designated as the evaluationtask, the authentication step S5 does not execute.

Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.The system configuration and the database configuration in the secondembodiment are identical to the first embodiment and thereforedescription will be omitted. The operation of the product evaluationsystem 1 of the second embodiment will be described using FIG. 10. FIG.10 is a flowchart of an evaluation process related to the secondembodiment.

The product evaluation system 1 of this embodiment is provided with afunction that automatically identifies the evaluation task and the typeof product X targeted for evaluation from the characteristic informationacquired by the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10. As shown inFIG. 10, in the evaluation process of this embodiment, a characteristicacquisition for product identification step S101, an evaluatedproduct/evaluation task identification step S102, an acquisitionmethod/item identification step S103, a characteristic acquisition forevaluation step S104, an authentication step S105, a value estimationstep S106, and an evaluation result output step S107 sequentiallyexecute. This evaluation process is executed by the evaluation mechanism20. Note that the sequence of each step of the evaluation process is notlimited to this sequence and, as described later, the characteristicacquisition for product identification step S101 and the evaluatedproduct/evaluation task identification step S102 can be executed at thesame time, and the execution sequence of the authentication step S105and the value estimation step S106 can be changed. In addition, in somecases only one of the authentication step S105 and the value estimationstep S106 executes. A step that includes the authentication step S105and the value estimation step S106 shall be referred to as the productevaluation step.

In the characteristic acquisition step for product identification stepS101, when the system is started by a system start operation performedby the operator, first, a request to send characteristic information issent to the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10. This request tosend is received by the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10, andcharacteristic information required in order to identify the productsuch as the size, shape, and material as well as the composition of thecomponents of the product X is acquired and sent to the evaluationmechanism 20. The characteristic items required in order to identifyproducts can be acquired by referencing the characteristic acquisitionmethod DB 32. Note that the devices utilized for the characteristicacquisition mechanism 10 and the characteristic items which can beacquired using each of these devices are the same as described in thefirst embodiment.

Next, in the evaluated product/evaluation task identification step S102,the product targeted for evaluation and evaluation tasks are identified.Based on information such as the size, shape, and material as well asthe composition of the components of the product X as acquired in thecharacteristic acquisition for product identification step S101, theproduct catalog DB 31 and genuine product characteristic DB 33 arereferenced, a product whose characteristics match with the informationof the product X is identified, and the identification ID of the productis acquired.

If products could not be identified for some reason, such as due tonon-matching characteristic information, the operator manually inputsthe product and evaluation task.

In this embodiment, the evaluation mechanism 20 has a function as aproduct identification mechanism when the product X is identified basedon the characteristic information of the product X acquired by thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10. In contrast, I/O component 50has a function as a product identification mechanism when the producttargeted for evaluation is input by the operator.

While in this embodiment the evaluation task is acquired and identifiedfrom the product catalog DB 31, identification of the evaluation task isnot limited to this method. Various types of settings identical to thefirst embodiment described above can also be used such as input by theoperator, using the last evaluation task, automatically setting this upwithin the system, or executing a pre-set fixed evaluation task.

Next, when characteristic information other than the characteristicinformation acquired in the characteristic acquisition for productidentification step S101 is required in order to perform authenticationor a value estimation of the product X, the characteristic acquisitionmethod and the characteristic item is identified in the acquisitionmethod/item identification step S103 to acquire the necessarycharacteristic information. The acquisition method/item identificationstep S103 is identical to the acquisition method/item identificationstep S3 of the first embodiment described above and thereforedescription will be omitted.

Next, in the characteristic acquisition for evaluation step S104, anycharacteristic information that has not acquired in the characteristicacquisition methods and the characteristic items acquired in theacquisition method/item identification step S103, is acquired from thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10. The characteristic acquisitionfor evaluation step S104 is identical to the product characteristicacquisition step S4 of the first embodiment described above andtherefore will be omitted.

Next, authentication is performed in the authentication step S105 basedon the characteristic information of the product X acquired in thecharacteristic acquisition for product identification step S101 and thecharacteristic acquisition for evaluation step S104. Then, the value ofthe product X is evaluated in the value estimation step S106. Lastly, inthe evaluation result output step S107, the evaluation result of“genuine product” or “counterfeit product” obtained in theauthentication step S105 and the value of the product X as theevaluation result obtained in the value estimation step S106 are outputto the display (output unit 52) of the I/O component 50.

The authentication step S105, value estimation step S106, and evaluationresult output step S107 are identical to the authentication step S5,value estimation step S6, and evaluation result output step S7 of thefirst embodiment described above and therefore the description of thesesteps will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the product is first identified in theevaluated product/evaluation task identification step S102 using thecharacteristic information acquired in the characteristic acquisitionfor product identification step S101 and then additional characteristicinformation is acquired in the characteristic acquisition for evaluationstep S104, and evaluation is performed in the authentication step S105and the value estimation step S106. However, it is also possible toacquire all the characteristic information required for the evaluationin the characteristic acquisition for product identification step S101and then simultaneously perform the evaluated product/evaluation taskidentification step S102, the authentication step S105, and the valueestimation step S106. If the configuration is set so that these stepsare performed simultaneously, communication to and from thecharacteristic acquisition mechanism 10 and reading the information ofthe data store 30 can be performed as one process. As a result, theevaluation process can be efficiently executed.

Furthermore, the execution sequences of the authentication step S105 andthe value estimation step S106 are not limited to the sequence describedabove. Value estimation can be performed first in the value estimationstep and then the authentication can be performed in the authenticationstep, or the authentication and value estimation can be performedsimultaneously in one step. When only authentication is designated asthe evaluation task, the value estimation step S106 does not execute. Incontrast, when only a value estimation is designated as the evaluationtask, the authentication step S105 does not execute.

Additionally, although the product X was evaluated to be either agenuine product or a counterfeit product in the authentication steps S5and S105 in the first and second embodiments, when the product X can bedetermined to be neither a genuine product nor a counterfeit product,the evaluation result of “manual confirmation required” can be outputand the evaluation can be performed manually by an appraiser or thelike.

Next, the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.The database configuration and the process flow in the third embodimentare identical to those of the first embodiment and the second embodimentand therefore will be omitted. The system organization of the productevaluation system 1 of the third embodiment will be described using FIG.11.

As shown in FIG. 11, the product evaluation system 1 of this embodimentis comprised such that the evaluation mechanism 20 and the data store 30are installed and administered together at a control location, such asan information processing center. The characteristic acquisitionmechanism 10 that acquires the characteristics of the product X targetedfor evaluation and the I/O component 50 that outputs the evaluationresult are installed at a remote location. These devices are connectedby a wide area communication network, such as the Internet, and theevaluation of the product X is performed at the remote location. By wayof using this type of configuration, it is possible to connect a centerwith multiple remote locations. As a result, the resources of theevaluation mechanism 20 and the data store 30 installed at the centerare effectively utilized.

An example of using this type of product evaluation system 1 is autilization method in which an appraiser of used goods is evaluatingindividual products one by one. As shown in FIG. 11, a scanner,functioning as the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10, and adisplay, functioning as the I/O component 50, installed at an evaluationlocation are an example of a possible hardware configuration.

As described above, according to the product evaluation system andproduct evaluation method according to various embodiments of thepresent invention, the characteristic acquisition mechanism 10 acquiresthe characteristic information of the product targeted for evaluationand then compares this characteristic information to information relatedto genuine values of genuine products and/or counterfeit values ofcounterfeit products registered beforehand thereby allowing the systemto evaluate whether or not the product is a genuine product. As aresult, people without special expertise or experience can perform theauthentication. Additionally, when evaluating large amounts of products,the risk of mistakes is very small and the accuracy of evaluations ishigher. Furthermore, it is not necessary for the manufacturer or thedistributor to attach information, such as markers, to productsbeforehand and products can be evaluated in their present state. Evenfurther, the value of a genuine product can also be evaluated.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of theinvention, reference has been made to the preferred embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, and specific language has been used todescribe these embodiments. However, no limitation of the scope of theinvention is intended by this specific language, and the inventionshould be construed to encompass all embodiments that would normallyoccur to one of ordinary skill in the art. The present invention may bedescribed in terms of functional block components and various processingsteps. Such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardwareand/or software components configured to perform the specifiedfunctions. Furthermore, the present invention could employ any number ofconventional techniques for electronics configuration, signal processingand/or control, data processing and the like. The word mechanism is usedbroadly and is not limited to mechanical or physical embodiments, butcan include software routines in conjunction with processors, etc.

The particular implementations shown and described herein areillustrative examples of the invention and are not intended to otherwiselimit the scope of the invention in any way. For the sake of brevity,conventional electronics, control systems, software development andother functional aspects of the systems (and components of theindividual operating components of the systems) may not be described indetail. Furthermore, the connecting lines, or connectors shown in thevarious figures presented are intended to represent exemplary functionalrelationships and/or physical or logical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships, physical connections or logical connectionsmay be present in a practical device. Moreover, no item or component isessential to the practice of the invention unless the element isspecifically described as “essential” or “critical”. Numerousmodifications and adaptations will be readily apparent to those skilledin this art without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A product evaluation system, comprising: acharacteristic acquisition device that acquires characteristicinformation of a product, wherein the characteristic acquisition devicecomprises at least one device compatible with the product typeidentified by a product identifier selected from at least one of thegroup consisting of a radiographic test device, a fluorescent X-rayanalysis device, an ultraviolet absorption analysis device, an imageenlargement processing device, a surface roughness measurement device,an infrared light absorption/penetration analysis device, an acousticfrequency analysis device, an odor sensor, and a reflection coefficientmeasurement device; and a computer that evaluates a product, thecomputer comprising: a product information memory that stores a producttype of a product including at least one of a product, a product group,a product brand and a product category, and identification informationof the product; a characteristic acquisition method memory that storesan acquisition method for acquiring characteristic informationcorresponding to the product; the product identifier that identifies aproduct type of a product targeted for evaluation including at least oneof a product, a product group, a product brand, or a product category,based on input information; a genuine product characteristic informationmemory that stores genuine product characteristic information of theproduct; a counterfeit product characteristic information memory thatstores genuine product characteristic information of the product; aproduct condition memory that stores value information for eachcondition of the product; a market information memory that stores marketinformation corresponding to the value information of the product; anevaluation task memory that stores a type of evaluation including anyone of authentication, a value estimation, or authentication and a valueestimation; an evaluation task acquisition unit that acquires the typeof evaluation from the evaluation task memory; and an evaluation unitthat performs a predetermined evaluation of the product targeted forevaluation, wherein: the evaluation unit acquires the identificationinformation of the product targeted for evaluation from the productinformation memory based on the product type identified by the productidentifier, acquires the characteristic acquisition method for theproduct targeted for evaluation from the characteristic acquisitionmethod memory based on the identification information, and acquires thecharacteristic information of the product targeted for evaluation fromthe characteristic acquisition device compatible with the characteristicacquisition method; the evaluation unit references the type ofevaluation acquired by the evaluation task acquisition unit; when thetype of evaluation includes the authentication, the evaluation unitperforms the authentication by acquiring at least one of the genuineproduct characteristic information and the counterfeit productcharacteristic information of the product targeted for evaluation withreference to at least one of the genuine product characteristicinformation memory and the counterfeit product characteristicinformation memory based on the identification information of theproduct targeted for evaluation, and by comparing the acquired at leastone of the genuine product characteristic information and thecounterfeit product characteristic information with the characteristicinformation of the product targeted for evaluation acquired from thecharacteristic acquisition device; when the type of evaluation includesthe value estimation, the evaluation unit performs the value estimationby acquiring the value information of the product targeted forevaluation from the product condition memory based on the identificationinformation of the product targeted for evaluation and thecharacteristic information related to the condition of the producttargeted for evaluation acquired from the characteristic acquisitiondevice, and by acquiring the market information of the product targetedfor evaluation with reference to the market information memory based onthe acquired value information; and when the evaluation unit evaluatesthat the product targeted for evaluation is a counterfeit product, thecharacteristic information of the product targeted for evaluation issaved in the counterfeit product characteristic information memory. 2.The product evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein: the marketinformation is a market value; and a sales price of the product targetedfor evaluation is determined based on the market value in the valueestimation.
 3. The product evaluation system according to claim 1,wherein: the computer comprises the genuine product characteristicinformation memory that stores genuine product characteristicinformation of the product; the product information memory furtherincludes characteristic information of the product; and the productidentifier identifies the product type of the product targeted forevaluation with reference to at least one of the product informationmemory and the genuine product characteristic information memory basedon the characteristic information input from the characteristicacquisition device.
 4. The product evaluation system according to claim1, wherein at least one of the genuine product characteristicinformation memory and the counterfeit product characteristicinformation memory is updated based on the characteristic information ofthe product targeted for evaluation acquired from the characteristicacquisition device.
 5. The product evaluation system according to claim1, wherein the product evaluation system continuously evaluates aplurality of products.
 6. The product evaluation system according toclaim 1, wherein the characteristic acquisition device and the computerare included in a single apparatus.
 7. A product evaluation method thatevaluates products using a characteristic acquisition device acquiringcharacteristic information of a product, wherein the characteristicacquisition device comprises at least one device compatible with theproduct type identified in identifying the product type of the producttargeted for evaluation, selected from at least one of the groupconsisting of a radiographic test device, a fluorescent X-ray analysisdevice, an ultraviolet absorption analysis device, an image enlargementprocessing device, a surface roughness measurement device, an infraredlight absorption / penetration analysis device, an acoustic frequencyanalysis device, an odor sensor, and a reflection coefficientmeasurement device; and a computer comprising: a product informationmemory that stores a product type of a product including at least one ofa product, a product group, a product brand, and a product category, andidentification information of the product; a characteristic acquisitionmethod memory that stores an acquisition method for acquiringcharacteristic information corresponding to the product; the productidentifier that identifies a product type of a product targeted forevaluation including at least one of a product, a product group, aproduct brand, or a product category, based on input information; agenuine product characteristic information memory that stores genuineproduct characteristic information of the product; a counterfeit productcharacteristic information memory that stores genuine productcharacteristic information of the product; a product condition memorythat stores value information for each condition of the product; amarket information memory that stores market information correspondingto the value information of the product; an evaluation task memory thatstores a type of evaluation including any one of authentication, a valueestimation, or authentication and a value estimation; the methodcomprising: acquiring, by the computer, the type of evaluation from theevaluation task memory; identifying, by the computer, a product type ofa product targeted for evaluation including at least one of a product, aproduct group, a product brand, or a product category, based on inputinformation; acquiring, by the computer, the identification informationof the product targeted for evaluation from the from the productinformation memory based on the product type identified in theidentifying the product type of the product targeted for evaluation, andacquiring the characteristic acquisition method for the product targetedfor evaluation from the characteristic acquisition method memory basedon the identification information; acquiring, by the computer, thecharacterization information of the product targeted for evaluation fromthe characteristic acquisition device compatible with the characteristicacquisition method acquired in the acquiring the characteristicacquisition method; and performing, by the computer, a predeterminedevaluation of the product targeted for evaluation using thecharacteristic information acquired in the acquiring the characteristicinformation for the product targeted for evaluation, wherein: when thetype of evaluation acquired in the acquiring the type of evaluationincludes the authentication, in the performing evaluation of the producttargeted for evaluation, the computer acquires at least one of thegenuine product characteristic information and the counterfeit productcharacteristic information of the product targeted for evaluation withreference to at least one of the genuine product characteristicinformation memory and the counterfeit product characteristicinformation memory based on the identification information of theproduct targeted for evaluation, and compares the acquired at least oneof the genuine product characteristic information and the counterfeitproduct characteristic information with the characteristic informationof the product targeted for evaluation acquired in the acquiring thecharacteristic information of the product targeted for evaluation, andthereby performs the authentication; when the type of evaluationacquired in the acquiring the type of evaluation includes the valueestimation, in the performing evaluation of the product targeted forevaluation, the computer acquires the value information of the producttargeted for evaluation from the product condition memory based on theidentification information of the product targeted for evaluation andthe characteristic information related to the condition of the producttargeted for evaluation acquired in the acquiring the characteristicinformation of the product targeted for evaluation, and acquired themarket information of the product targeted for evaluation with referenceto the market information memory based on the acquired valueinformation, and thereby performs the value estimation; and when theproduct targeted for evaluation is evaluated as a counterfeit product,the characteristic information of the product targeted for evaluation issaved in the counterfeit product characteristic information memory. 8.The product evaluation method according to claim 7, wherein: the marketinformation is a market value; and in the performing evaluation of theproduct targeted for evaluation, the computer determines a sales priceof the product targeted for evaluation based on the market value.
 9. Theproduct evaluation method according to claim 7, wherein: the computercomprises the genuine product characteristic information memory thatstores genuine product characteristic information of the product; theproduct information memory further includes characteristic informationof the product; and in the identifying the product type of the producttargeted for evaluation, the computer identifies the product type of theproduct targeted for evaluation with reference to at least one of theproduct information memory and the genuine product characteristicinformation memory based on the characteristic information acquired inthe acquiring the characteristic information of the product targeted forevaluation.
 10. The product evaluation method according to claim 7,wherein in the performing evaluation of the product targeted forevaluation, the computer updates at least one of the genuine productcharacteristic information memory and the counterfeit productcharacteristic information memory based on the characteristicinformation of the product targeted for evaluation acquired in theacquiring the characteristic information of the product targeted forevaluation.
 11. The product evaluation method according to claim 7,wherein the product evaluation method continuously evaluates a pluralityof products.
 12. The product evaluation method according to claim 7,wherein the characteristic acquisition device and the computer areincluded in a single apparatus.